God's Wisdom Incarnate in Christ

Of the synoptic authors, Luke does more to develop Christ as the Wisdom of God than the rest. And he does so from the very beginning of his narrative of the beginnings of Christ's earthly life. Luke 2:40-52 says, "And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. 41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man."

Luke’s emphasis is on the humanity of Christ: Christ was filled with wisdom and God’s favor was upon him. Because man was created in God’s image, wisdom has been characteristic of man in his relationship with God since the garden. As Graeme Goldsworthy notes, Luke wants to see in his highlighting of wisdom and grace, that Jesus perfectly fulfilled the role of Israel and of redeemed mankind to be the Son of God in perfect relationship with the Father.

Luke wants his audience to see and feel Christ’s humanity in highlighting his physical growth and wisdom. Christ, as a human was expected to grow physically and I think there is an expectation here for Christ, as a human, to grow spiritually. Wisdom, as Luke and his audience would have understood it, comes loaded with all sorts of Old Testament language… especially when we consider that this is a virtual quote from 1 Samuel, where we’re told that Samuel grew both in stature and in favor with God and man. And what is the context for Samuel growing in stature and in favor with God and man? The tabernacle! Where do we find Christ growing in stature and in favor with God and man? The temple! There is a direct link between the maturation of Samuel and his vocational service in the tabernacle as well as the worship of Israel. 1 Samuel 2:21 says that “the young man Samuel grew in the presence of the LORD.” In verse 26 of that same chapter it says that the young man Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man.”

What is true for Samuel in 1 Samuel is true of Jesus in Luke 2. There is a direct link between the maturation of Jesus as a young man and his service in the temple. It’s interesting that Luke includes wisdom in his description of Christ’s growth (and he does so because not only does Luke have 1 Samuel in view, but also Proverbs). This wisdom, then, like Christ’s stature and favor is tied to Christ’s temple service, which is highlighted in the trip to Jerusalem with his parents.

But Luke here in Luke 2 doesn’t just highlight Jesus’ humanity. He highlights Christ’s Jewishness. The temple was the appropriate place for Jesus to be since the house of God was the place ordained by God for meeting with his people. It is here that Luke is drawing parallels with Samuel who is also said continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man. Luke, though, adds wisdom, because he is also drawing parallels to Proverbs.

The temple was also the appropriate place to be for the Wisdom of God. Luke is setting us up to tell us later that one greater than Solomon is here. Vs. 47 says the leaders were “amazed at his “understanding” and his “answers”. It is Christ’s Wisdom that is at the heart of this restoration of favor between God and man. Luke is looking back to Proverbs 3:1-4: “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, 2 for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. 3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.” Luke says Christ is pursuing the fear of the Lord as the beginning of Wisdom. Christ is keeping God’s commandments. Christ is binding steadfast love and faithfulness around his neck… and in doing so, is enjoying the favor and good success of God and fellow men. One greater than Solomon is here… in fact, he is fulfilling Solomon’s charge to his son… as a son.

There is also much that could be said about this word “favor”. It is first used in Luke 1 when the angel tells Mary that she has found favor with God. And where have we seen that word “favor” already here in Luke 2? Again, favor is on the lips of angels, who say, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.” The New International Version reads “on whom his favor rests”. Luke’s usage of “favor” or “pleasure” has its roots in Genesis 6 where it says that “Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”

This is the kind of favor that Christ, as the One greater than Solomon, came to restore between God and man. Luke makes this connecting point even in Christ’s childhood. From the moment Christ is born, He arrives bringing with Him God’s favor to His people as One on whom God’s favor rests. And even as Christ matures in his humanity, he is fulfilling what the angels promised. God’s favor rests on His people as His favor rests on Christ, the Wisdom of God. Note the language of Luke 2:47: All who heard the boy Jesus in the temple were “amazed at his understanding and his answers”. God’s wisdom incarnate in Christ is on display for all to see.

We cannot enjoy God’s favor until Christ has first enjoyed His favor. Christ restored favor between God and man because He was the One on whom God’s favor rested. It is then that Luke and Matthew can show us through Christ’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount that the one who is restored to friendship, or favor, with God is the wise man. The wise man is the one who hears the words of Christ and does them. The wise man is the one, who with the crowd and the scribes, is “amazed at Christ’s understanding and his answers” and then aligns his thoughts and his actions with Christ’s “understanding and His answers.”

And in light of 1 Corinthians 1, where Paul speaks of Christ being the wisdom of God, Christ grew in wisdom so that we might grow in wisdom. Nothing is possible for us in salvation, unless Christ has not first done it on our behalf… and this is true of wisdom. The wisdom that comes from God, that sustains us not only in the difficult decisions of life, that helps us discern what is the truth of the gospel and what is the lie of the enemy, that guides us in the mundane and in the relationships we nurture and cultivate in the seemingly mundane…that kind of wisdom is a Wisdom that was first Incarnate in Christ. There is hope for the one who “lacks wisdom” (James 1:5) in the mundane and in the relationships and in the discernment precisely because God’s Wisdom has been Incarnate in Christ. The promise that sits behind and above Jesus "increasing in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man" is that we, in Christ, will increase in wisdom and in favorf with God and man as we participate in a temple made without hands.